Which Zaurus?, Zaurus on film-sets: which is best? Options

[Daryl Watson]

I have a very naive query:

I've been working on film-sets, often outdoors, where my job involves taking down notes on the shots filmed and varous takes etc. to be used by the editors. I'm on the move constantly, and use the small moments of time between set-ups to type the notes.

To solve the mobility problem (and legibility due to poor handwriting), I've been entering the data using a Psion series 5mx, with has served me well. It has:
- good battery life,
- screen visibility in daylight and night
- easy to use qwerty keyboard
- portablity (carried in a case work on the hip)
- no boot-up time once running
- hardy enough to withstand the dusty conditions of the Australian outdoors.

The screen however has faded and is causing eye-strain. A second problem is that I switched to a Mac powerPC G4 (running OS X 10.4.3), and the process of converting the psion files to excel is not as simple as it was on my pc (not that it was really that simple). I need to copy the files, convert them (where I lose the file formatting) then reformat the files. At the end of a long day the last thing you need is a drawn out process to get your files printed and finally wrap up.

I need to update to a newer handheld computer that has the same or similar attributes, but additionally, is simpler to use with the mac. Ideally if I could plug it in, open the file so that it appears on the Zaurus as it does on the Mac, and print it to .pdf that would be perfect.

The Zaurus series looks great, and if it has similar usability plus a few extras I'd be happy to pay the extra money.

I'm considering either the 860 or the 3200 models.

Could anyone tell me whether these models share the attributes described?
And whether these models go the extra distance - and would be able to simplify the problem of printing my documents through my mac at the end of the day (to both .pdf and my paper printer). Are there other benefits also?

Thanks alot for any advice on this matter!

Regards,
Daryl